Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 1)
He snapped, “What the hell do you expect? He’s running in the middle of a thunderstorm with a metal object in his hand. He should be scared. And on top of that I almost hit him, and if that had happened, he wouldn’t be scared, just dead.”
“Get closer.”
“What?”
“Get closer.”
“Why would I do that? He’s got a gun, Michelle.”
“So what? We have guns too. Just get closer.”
He sped up while Michelle rolled down the window.
A spear of lightning lit the sky with a billion-candlepower burst of energy followed by a crack of thunder so loud it sounded like a skyscraper imploding.
“Hey,” Michelle yelled at the boy. “Hey!”
The teen looked back again, his face whitewashed in the glare of the headlights.
“What happened?” yelled Michelle. “Are you okay?”
The boy’s answer was to point the gun at them. But he didn’t fire. He left the road and cut across a field, his feet slipping and sliding over the wet grass.
“I’m calling the cops,” said Sean.
“Just wait,” she replied. “Stop the car.”
Sean slowed the Cruiser and pulled to a stop a few feet later.
Michelle hopped out of the vehicle.
“What the hell are you doing?” Sean cried out.
“He’s obviously in trouble. I’m going to find out why.”
“Did it occur to you that he might be in trouble because he just shot somebody and is running from the scene of the crime?”
“Don’t think so.”
He looked at her incredulously. “You don’t think so? Based on what?”
“I’ll be back.”
“What? Michelle, wait.”
He made a grab for her arm but missed.
The next instant she was sprinting across the field. In a few seconds she was soaked to the skin in the driving rain.
Sean slapped his palm against the steering wheel in disbelief. “I can’t frigging believe this.” He yelled at the window. “Do you have a death wish?” But Michelle was long since out of earshot.
He calmed, studied the lay of the land for a few moments, put the vehicle into gear, and sped off, hanging a right at the next intersection and punching the gas so hard the rear of the truc
k spun out. He righted it and drove off, cursing his partner loudly with every turn of the wheel.
CHAPTER
4